#MovieReview: May December is character study in sharp focus [Watch]
The latest film from director Todd Haynes (Carol, I'm Not There) explores moral ambiguity in dark and often funny detail.
May December is an excellently made and unsettling film that dares you to enjoy its melodrama.
It is irregular and at times deeply uncomfortable, but nevertheless magnetic to watch as three wonderful central performances draw you into the melee.
This is destined to be the ‘conversation’ film of the year, where everyone you speak to will likely have a slightly (or wildly) different take on its subject matter.
The latest from director Todd Haynes (Carol, I’m Not There) explores moral ambiguity in dark and often funny detail.
May December is inspired by the real life Mary Kay Letorneau story, where Letorneau – a 34-year-old teacher – engaged in a relationship with her 12-year-old pupil Vili Fualaau.
The film version sees Gracie Atherton (Julianne Moore) in a similarly predatory role, when she begins a relationship with 13-year-old fellow pet store employee Joe Yoo (Charles Melton).
In both the real life and film versions, the couples get married and have children once the sex offender has served their prison sentence.
May December joins Gracie and Joe 23 years into their marriage, which appears relatively normal at surface level.
They have carved out a reasonable life together and have three teenage children.
This is all upended when television actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) asks to shadow the family for a movie version of their relationship, where she would play Gracie.
Gracie sees it as an opportunity to set the public record straight and tell what she believes to be a real love story rather than a clear case of grooming and predation.
But once Elizabeth arrives and begins to ask questions, the cracks in their already fractured lives soon begin to show.
Elizabeth is no saint either and her attempts to inhabit the character are far beyond what would be fair on the family.
Aside from Joe, whose innocence was robbed during a crime he was too young to understand, there are no redeemable characters here.
May December is interested in the process of acting and character building in the public eye, while also raising questions about the world’s fascination with true crime.
It is often funny and always watchable and will stay with you for a long time after the credits roll.
Watch it on Netflix later this month.
Rated 16 for Adult Themes, Language and Sex.
4/5.
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